"Firm slogan becomes 'Bose means Snuff Porn Film Business,'" the email begins, citing the recent hiring of a female associate - named in the message - who had appeared in several independent films.

The email claimed that the woman acted in pornographic movies, that she might have won her job at the law firm by performing sexual acts and that her on-screen actions were a disgrace to all professional women.

It also included a video clip purported to be of the young woman performing a topless scene in a low-budget production.

But the Nov.28, 2008, email that appeared to come from Kendall Crook was not sent by Crook or anyone else at Bose, nor did the exposed breasts in the video clip belong to the young attorney.

The bogus email was, in fact, the latest in an increasingly nasty string of letters, Internet postings and emails unleashed by former Bose partner Arthur "A.J." Usher IV after the woman rebuffed his romantic advances.

Usher's harassment and attempts to discredit the young attorney - The Indianapolis Star has chosen not to use her name - prompted the Indiana Supreme Court last week to suspend his law license for at least three years. Justice Steven David called for disbarment.

The suspension of Usher's law license is the latest in a string of attorney sanctions for professional misconduct or unethical behavior. More than 30 discipline orders have been issued this year.

Reached at his law practice, Usher said he had not seen the Supreme Court order and declined to comment. He hung up the phone when asked about a civil lawsuit filed against him by the former colleague.

Bose spokesman Roger Harvey said the law firm is committed to providing a safe workplace for employees.

"Our firm had complete confidence that the Indiana Supreme Court would resolve this matter appropriately," he said, "and we are pleased the issue has concluded."

It was a mighty fall for Usher, 43, who graduated magna cum laude from the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington in 1997 and had been a partner in the intellectual property divisions at Bose and at Krieg DeVault.

"We hear these kinds of stories all the time and, even though they are different in each scenario, there's a similar vein to it," said Dr. Karen Ruskin, a Massachusetts psychotherapist and an expert on human behavior.

That common thread, she said, is seemingly uncharacteristic behavior, typically triggered by emotions such as anxiety or frustration.

"What it's really about," Ruskin said, "is a person who listens to and allows their id to take over rather than their ego." The id, she explained, "is the side of us that wants what we want when we want it, it's the side of us that is irrational, it's the side of us that will do what we want" even if it hurts others.

Usher's personal and professional spiral apparently was triggered by his misreading of the woman's attention. It is detailed in documents from the disciplinary case and the woman's lawsuit, which was dismissed in February. According to Supreme Court disciplinary records, Usher paid the woman an undisclosed amount of money.

The pair met during the summer of 2006. He was a 35-year-old, unmarried patent attorney. She was a 23-year-old honor student interning at Bose after completing her second year of law school.

They developed a social relationship that continued after she completed the internship and returned to law school. In late 2006 and 2007, the woman's lawsuit says, the pair "continued to correspond via email and periodically met for lunch and dinner depending on (her) law school class schedule."

When the woman graduated from law school in 2007, she was offered a job at Bose. Before starting at Bose, however, the woman took a prestigious one-year position as a judicial law clerk.

By that time, Usher had left Bose for a job as a partner at Krieg DeVault. But his interest in the woman continued.

In January 2008, Usher sent an email asking her to dinner and a movie. She declined his invitation and informed Usher she had a boyfriend. She also reminded Usher that he had a girlfriend.

After that, the lawsuit says, Usher wrote a series of "love letters" pushing her for more than a friendship. The first - two-pages, typed, single space - laid out his feelings and was signed "With love, Arthur J. Usher IV." The letters kept coming every few weeks, getting longer and more intense. One sent in April 2008 ran on for 14 typed pages.

The tone of the communications, however, changed in May 2008. Usher sent her an email with all of his past love letters attached, as well as a 41-page journal in which he detailed his affection. But the message also expressed frustration about being rejected by her.

Although Usher's attempts to woo the young attorney had failed, his new efforts to harass and discredit her were more successful.

Those actions culminated on Nov. 28, 2008. That's when the "Bose knows ..." email containing the topless movie clip landed in the inboxes of about 50 attorneys at Bose and at least six other Indianapolis-area law firms.

The message was sent from the account kennethcrook@gmail.com, the lawsuit says. Kendall Crook, the managing partner at Bose who has since retired, went by the name Ken. But that gmail account was not Crook's.

The bogus message said he "had received an email conversation written by two Indianapolis women," according to the lawsuit, and it was "just too humorous not to share."

The made-up string of emails included one of the fictitious women saying: "There are legions of plain faced big breasted blonds who are such hacks as actresses that they are gladly shedding their clothes (or doing anything else) to get in front of a camera ... Who knows, maybe she is not that bright and took a similar approach to getting hired?"

The email prompted the woman to file a police report. She also bought a gun and obtained a protective order against Usher. The damage, however, had been done.

The woman's lawsuit claims at least one attorney at Bose believed she should be fired based on the content of the bogus email. Other attorneys who received the email, the lawsuit says, still believe she appeared topless in the video clip and acted in pornographic movies.

Usher had been on vacation when the email was sent. But when he returned, he was confronted with the woman's protective order, the disciplinary records say. Krieg DeVault demanded Usher's resignation. Since then, according to Usher's LinkedIn profile, he has worked on his own.

The disciplinary action against Usher revealed that his paralegal, who had been fired from Bose, actually created the bogus Crook email account and sent the email - acting on Usher's behalf.

Usher had his law license suspended for violating rules of professional conduct, including being uncooperative and deceptive in his dealings with the commission and in the woman's civil suit.

The young attorney told The Star she wants to move on with her life. She has put her acting career on hold and left Bose, saying the situation with Usher was "a big factor" in her departure.